Car-coupling



(No Model.) I I ZSheets-Sheet 1..

G. W. CURTIS & J. WOOD, Jr. GAB COUPLING.

No. 321,844. PatenfiedJgge 30, 1885.

Nv PETERS- HwhwLithognph-r. Wahinglon, D. C,

(No Model.)

G. W. CURTIS spa. WOODQJr,

2 Sheets-Shet' GAR COUPLING.

WITNESSES:

PatntedJune so, 1885 I, ER E \M 1 lNYENTOR S fiwfg 'xff u. mews. mwmm nu. Walhinflon. n. c,

A UNIT-E STATES PATEN Erica.

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, OF PHILADELPHIA, AND JOHN WOOD, JR, OF GONSHOHOOKEN, ASSIGNOBS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOTIIE CURTIS AND WOOD AUTOMATIC CAR COUPLER COMPANY, 'OF

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

$PECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 321,344, dated June 30, 1885.

Application filed January 31, 335. (No model.)

30 all" whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, .GEORGE WILLIA GURTIs. 01" Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and JOHN W001), J r., of Oonshohocken, Pennsylvania, have jointly invented an Improved Oar-Ooupling, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement upon a certain car-coupling invented by the above to named George lVilliam Curtis and patented to him in and by United States Letters Patent No. 234,175, issued November 9,1880, to which patent reference is directed for the better understanding of this improvement.

The Curtis patented invention belongs to a class of car-couplings in which the ordinary closed oval link is employed in connection with a coupling-hook which is pivoted and adapted to slide within a draw-head.

The present invention corriprehends improved constructions of the draw-head, coupling-hook, and springbuffer, an improved mode of application of the hookand buffer withinthe draw-head, and an improved con- 2 struotion and application of the crank and chain, whereby the coupling-hook may be so set or adjusted as to be temporarilyincapable of coupling.

Apparatus constructed substantially in the manner shown in the accompanying drawings and described in this specification embodies a good form of our invention.

The particular subject matter which we claim as novel is hereinafter definitely specified'.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional side elevation of a coupling embodying our invention in the position which the parts occupy when alink has been coupled 0 to thedraw-head. There is indicated also in dotted lines the position of the crank, chain, and coupling-hook when these parts are so set that an entering link must be automatically coupled. Fig. 2is a front elevational or face 4 5 view. into the mouth of the draw-head. Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the buffer without its spring and removed from the draw-head. Fig. 4 is 'ahview similar to Fig. 1, but indibuffer.

eating the position of the crank, chain, and coupling-hook, when these parts are so set that a link may enter but will not be automatically coupled. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the same, all the parts being in the positions which they are represented as occupying in Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, A represents the drawhead, and A the enlarged bellanouthed buffer-head thereof.

a is a narrow slot through the upper portion of the draw-head, which extends back from itsbuffcr-head in .the direction of the length of the draw-head. This slot allows the coupling-hook to rise to engage with the coupling: link, to be disengaged therefrom, or to play with respect thereto when the coupling-hook is so set that coupling cannot be effected.

a is a narrow slot through the under portion. of the draw-head, which extends back from a transverse stop, a", a sufficient distance, in the direction of the length of the draw-head, to aiiord play for the prolonged shank or stop-arm of the coupling-hook.

a? is a hole for an ordinary coupling-pin, should accident to any part of our coupling devices necessitate its employment.

or is a shoulderin the rear face of thebellmouth of the draw-head, which serves to assist in retaining in position the coupling-hook Whencoupled.

A is the throat or hollow interior of the draw-head. a a are longitudinally-disposed pivot-slots formed in the sides of the throat of thedraw-head, and extending forward to the mouth thereof, so as to admit the introduction through the mouth and throat of the spring- Within these slots the pivot-pins of the coupling-hook are likewise received and lay. p a a are vertical slots, herein termed the pivot-notches, cut through the substance of thevupper portion of the draw-head from its outer upper surface down into the pivot-slots a), and out laterally out from the upper slot,

a, of said draw-head to a breadth sufficient to v take in the pivot-pins of the coupling-hook. These notches permit the coupling-hook to be introduced within the draw-head from above,

and through the upper slot, to, and consequently enable us to cast the draw-head as an entirety and avoid sectional construction.

13 is the coupling-hook, provided near its rear end with two laterally-extending pivotpins, 1) b. The straight shank b of the coupling-hook is prolonged to a greater depth than the hooking-nose b thereof, and is entered and plays within the lower slot, a, in the drawhead in such manner that when the couplinghook is raised to a predetermined extent the said shank encounters the transverse stop a and limitsthe further upward throw of said coupling-hook. This construction enables us to dispense with the stop-pins of the Curtis patent.

D is the springbuffer which is actuated by the coiled spring 8, is arranged to slide within the draw-head, and acts upon the [couplinghook when the chain, as in Fig.1, is slack, to push said hook forward, so that its'front portion or head, If, engages with theshoulder a of the draw-head, whereby the coupled hook is prevented from rising or becoming accident ally disengaged from the link. The head of the spring-buffer is provided with a rounded face, d, to ease and facilitate the tumbling movement of the coupling-hook, the rear face of which works against the face of said buffer. The buffer is also provided with laterally-extending ears d (V, by means of which the head of the buffer is entered within, and, so

to speak, suspended from the pivot-slots ta The buffer can, therefore, under our improvements, be introduced within the draw-head through the mouth thereof.

0 is a coupling-link, which is the ordinary closed oval link.

The means employed for'drawing back and raising the coupling-hook for uncoupling are the crank E and chain F. The crank, as in the Curtis patent, is arranged horizontally and transversely in bearings 9* upon the car G, and it projects laterally in both directions far enough to allow its handles 6 e to beseen and operated to uncouple from the side of the car, and without requiring the brakeman to enter the space between the cars. The chain F connects the wrist-pin 0* of the crank with the head I) of the hook, so that when the parts are in the position represented in full lines in Fig. 1 an upward rotation of the crank to, for instance, a vertical position, will first oc casion the drawing back of the hook until its head is free of the shoulder at of the drawhead, and then its raising into 'the diagonal position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. If, now, the crank be either held in such vertical position or again thrown forward,'as it is represented in full lines in said Fig.-l as being thrown, (its chain remaining slack,) a link attached to another car entering the drawhead will strike the shank or stop-arm of the hook and simultaneously depress and force back the hook, so that the latter will resume the position indicatedin full'lines in Fig. 1,

and under the stress of the spring-buffer the chain, as stated, being slack, will be advanced to engagement with the shoulder a, and an automatic coupling of the entered link with the draw-head be effected. If,' on the other hand, the crank-after its rotation upward and backward and its consequent raising of the hook into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1be thrown clear back into the position represented in Figs. 4 and 5, the chain F will be stretched taut between the wrist-pin and the coupling-hook, and a link entering the draw-head will strike the stop-arm of thehook,

butalthough simultaneously depressing and forcing back the coupling-hook so that while the entering-thrust continues the hook will maintain the position indicated in full lines inFig. 1'will not effect coupling, forthe reason that the moment the entering thrust ofthe link is relieved the stress of the spring-buffer, acting forwardagainst' the hook,will, .in conjunction with thetaut chain, occasion the instant retilting of the coupling-hook to the position indicated in full lin'esin Figs. Land 5, and prevent. so great an advance of the book as to occasion the engagement of its head with the shoulder a of the draw-head. v

The importance of the foregoing capability will be obvious when it is considered that. no coupling contrivance which will effect a permanent coupling every time the cars are bumped cars. a

Areference to Figs. 4 and 5 will show that an inclined channel, 9, is formed in the car immediately beneath the crank. The office of this channel is to receive the chain when the crank is deflected into the position shown in said Figs. 4 and 5,'and so to cause the chain to draw down upon the wrist-pin and obviate the possibility of such a reverse deflection of the crank as would permit the automatic coupling by the hook of an entering link.

The application of the crank with a short chain, and in such manner that it can be de flected completely backward and there maintained, will occasion the maintenance of the coupling-hook in a position in which automatic coupling cannot be effected upon the entering of a link, and is therefore an important improvement,which lends a valuable capability to the contrivance as an entirety, and renders it possible for a brakeman, by the simple turn of a crank,to set the device so that it either will or will not couple automatically, and likewise to know at a glance whether the device is set to couple or not to couple.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a slotted draw-head provided with a stop for the coupling-hook, of a spring-buffer, a coupling-hook provided with an elongated shank or stop-arm adapted to abut against the stop, and achain-and-crank connection,the arrangement together can be profitably applied to freightv being such that when the crank is thrown back the chain is held'taut and the coupling-hook sustained in such position that automatic coupling is impossible, substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a draw'head having an upper slot and alower slot for the coupling-hook, of a spring-bufier and a pivoted coupling-hook entered within the upper slot of the draw-head and provided with an elongated shank which plays within said draw-head and is adapted to abut against the stop, substantially as described.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a draw-head having an upper slot, a lower slot, and a coupling-stop, of aspring-buffer, a

pivoted coupling-hook entered within the up per slot of the draw-head and provided with an elongated shank playing within said lower slot and adapted to abut against thestop, and a chainahd-crank connection, the arrangement being such that when the crank is thrown back the chain is held taut and the coupling-hook sustained in such position that automatic coupling is impossible, substantially as described.

4- The draw-head A, having a hollow throat or interior, A, and provided with pivot-slots 6. The draw-head'A, having a hollow throat or interior, A',provided with pivot-slots a a, an upper slot, at, and notches a. a substantially as shown and described, and for the purposes specified.

7. The draw-head A, having a hollow throat or interior, A,provided with pivot-slots a a", an upper slot, at, and notches a a in combination with a coupling-hook, B, provided with pivot-pins b b and with a spring-buffer, D, substantially as described, and for the purposes specified.

8. In combination, the draw-head, thecoupling-hook, the chain, the crank, and the car provided with bearings for the crank and with the inclined channel for the chain, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. As an article of man ufacture, a draw-head having the upper slot, a,the lower slot, at, the

pivot-slots a a the pivot-notches a a and the stop a, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I, the said GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, have hereunto signed my name this 17th day of January, A. D. 1885.

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.

In presence of J. BONSALL TAYLOR, -WM. 0. STRAWBRIDGE.

And I, the said JOHN WOOD, J r.,-have also hereunto signed my name this 26th day of J an nary, A. D. 1885.

JOHN WOOD, JR.

In presence of-- MORTIMER C. WILsoN, F. A. WOOD.

Corrections in Letters Patent No. 321,344-

, It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 321,344, granted June 30, 1885, upon the application of George William Curtis, of Philadelphia, and John Wood, Jr., of

' Oonshohockeu, Pennsylvania, for an improvement in Oar-Couplings, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction, as follows: In line 127, page 2, the pronouns myfand I should be read our and we, respectively; in Hue 7, page 3, the word slot should be read stop and that the Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein to make it conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 21st day of July, A. D. 1885.

SEAL H. L. MULDROW,

Acting Secretary of the Interior.

'Oohntersigned:

M. V. MONTGOMERY,

Commissioner of Patents. 

